~£400 CPU Motherboard Ram upgrade

Daniel Harvey

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Apr 14, 2014
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Hi,
As the title says, im looking to upgrade my cpu ram and motherboard.
Id like to do this for 2 reasons.
1) to free up my existing cpu, ram and motherboard (I have a spare case and psu) for a home/plex server
2) To increase game performance or just to generally 'futureproof'

Here is my existing PC:
i5 4670
Gigabyte H87M-HD3
MSI Armour GTX 1070
8gb ddr3 ram
evga 500b psu
Sound Blaster Z Sound Card
triple 1080p setup
full size case

I also bought the Coolermaster 212 evo cooler although i am yet to fit it, but as far as i am aware it works with both my current CPU and future ones too.

I have done some prior research and it would seem the i5 6600k would suit my needs.
Therefore i believe I would need a Z motherboard to enable overclocking and it seems reasonable, if im getting a Z motherboard, to get one which supports SLI.

I'd also like 8/16gb of Ram

I am unsure of what makes a 'good' motherboard/ram so im asking here for some help


My budget is roughly £400 i can a bit go over if necessary

Hope you can help
Thanks
Daniel
 

xFeaRDom

Estimable
You're kinda in luck here, i've been looking at similar upgrades :) It is possible to get just under if you look at the correct places, if not it'll go around £30 over. Here is an example:

PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/4MFDHx
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/4MFDHx/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£129.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£82.99 @ Novatech)
Total: £428.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-30 15:24 GMT+0000

That is what I would go with if I upgraded. The motherboard is recommended by a lot of people, looks really nice and supports SLI. There's DDR4 3000MHz RAM that is low profile I believe and can be installed under the 212 Evo, but even then you could use different RAM slots, and the 6600K is in there like you suggested.
 
A "good" motherboard will have a Z170 chipset so you can overclock a I5-6600K.
While your current motherboard is M-ATX, I imagine that a ATX motherboard will fit in your full sized case.

hyper212 is all you need for a decent oc.
As of 10/11/2016
What percent can get an overclock at a somewhat sane 1.40v Vcore.

I5-6600K

4.9 14%
4.8 38%
4.7 67%
4.6 87%

Fast ram in not that helpful.
More ram trumps faster ram.
Here is a study on ram speed scaling:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

I think this bundle will do what you want for £429.99

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skylake-3-5Ghz-Z170-P-Motherboard-2400Mhz/dp/B01BJR7V2C/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1480519558&sr=8-8&keywords=i5-6600K+bundle
 

Daniel Harvey

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Apr 14, 2014
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@geofelt, @xFeaRDom
I see. Cheers guys, Ill go with the Amazon bundle as its basically the same but with more ram for the same price :)

EDIT: just looked both motherboards up, seems the ASUS Z170-P doesnt support sli, whereas the A version does




So would a 550/600w be more recommended?
 

xFeaRDom

Estimable


I think it would be possible to run SLI 1070's and a 6600K Overclock on a 650w PSU, at the moment I think the 750W EVGA Supernova G2 is the same price as the 650W though.
 

RCFProd

Expert
Ambassador
Wattage isn't really key, It's the build quality, longevity and performance that is. You might power an overclocked i5-6600k with an EVGA 500B, but how long will it last? And how much damage will it cause when it no longer works? If you had a decent 500 watts on your hand I would say keep it, no problem, but the EVGA 500B falls way too short.

Anyways, since you do mention SLI, It's only good to future proof on the power supply with higher wattage.

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £84.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-30 16:31 GMT+0000



 


Exactly right analysis in my opinion.
sli wins fps benchmarks, but gameplay is better with a good single card.
Some games do not support dual gpu.
And, dual gpu is often accompanied by stuttering or screen tearing.

GTX1070 should play games at 1080P very well, and 1440P acceptably.
If you are thinking fast action gaming on 4k monitors, you need more.
Today, there is a GTX1080 and the high priced Titan-x.
Tomorrow, there will be even stronger single gpu cards available.
 

Daniel Harvey

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Apr 14, 2014
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If I wasn't looking for sli would I be able to spend less on a quality psu?
 
If you shop carefully, there will not be a lot of difference in price between, say, a 550w psu and a 650w psu.
At this time of year, Seasonic seems to have some sales, so I would watch for those.

If buying a psu on a budget, I might pass on gold/platinum rating.
You are unlikely to ever recoup savings from electricity.

Similarly, modular sells. But there is always a way to hide unused leads out of the airstream.
You are going to use most of them anyway.